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Soda company flap underscores region’s pride in Yooper identity

If there’s one thing Yoopers have, it’s pride in their identity.

Even though we’re part of the same state, we don’t always like being grouped in with the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, where “trolls” from “below the bridge” run amok. And we especially aren’t fond of anyone considering us cheeseheads, being lumped together with our neighbor to the west, Wisconsin.

Well, the soda pop company Mountain Dew made that mistake recently, and we let them know our displeasure.

Mountain Dew created a marketing campaign in which it’s featuring bottle labels from each of the 50 states. Part of that campaign was its recently released DEWnited States map, where each state has a distinct color. But the company mislabeled the Upper Peninsula as being part of Wisconsin, and the playful outcry on social media was there in full force from us Yoopers.

A bright spot to come out of this DEWnited States gaffe is that it sounds as if Mountain Dew is working on a special edition label for the U.P.

We’re pleased Mountain Dew is attempting to correct its mistake. But this isn’t the first time big national companies have mislabeled the U.P. on their maps and graphics.

In some instances, we’ve been labeled as belonging to Wisconsin or Canada, and in others we’ve been simply neglected altogether, with a big blank space or a goofy looking Lake Superior where God’s Country should have been.

The DEWnited States blunder likely won’t be the last time something like this happens, and maybe in a way we Yoopers enjoy that neglect. It gives us an excuse to cry out and say “Look at the U.P.! It’s a wonderful place and you ding-dongs don’t even know this paradise exists!”

Maybe that’s an exaggeration. But the truth about Yoopers — and all you transplants and trolls who have moved here to call this place home — is that we’re passionate about the U.P. and all it has to offer. There truly is no place quite like this, and the rest of the world will see it soon enough.

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